So Long
by Sktrgrl13
Summary: When Erza tasked them to go to Isvan to retrieve a magical artefact, Gray believed that he was more than ready. After all that he had been through, all the acceptances he had made, he believed that it would be alright. He should have known that Isvan Castle would hold more secrets than he could ever imagine. At least he had a dragon by his side, even if he was annoying. Gratsu


**Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in here belong to Mashima-san…regrettably… **

The soft golden rays of the rising sun peeled back the shadows that concealed the looming fortress from the view of the barely recognisable Royal Mile. The castle's aged, yet majestic, grandeur became more and more prevalent as the healing light exposed its flawed and fragmented exterior. The blackened stone embraced the tall turrets as if trying to hide the sordid red walls that painted the castle; secrets that ran deep beneath the haggard stone and seeped into the cobbled street of the Mile.

The once impenetrable Isvan Castle, in all its revered power and splendour, tainted the entire city and its inhabitants. Whispers of deceit, treason, and plague slipping passed well guarded gates, through the sleeping city and into its forgotten underground pit.

It's only now as he is at the cusp of adulthood that Gray Fullbuster truly understands.

He takes in the scarred and broken walls of the once great Northern defence. He raises a pale skinned hand and runs his long fingers over the shattered remains. He closes his deep blue eyes and listens as the walls whisper of the lives that once lived within the once great City.

They tell him of past Kings and their queens; both just as they could be cruel.

They tell him of old merchants who lined their carts up and down the Mile; the echoes of their voices reverberating through the ruined city as they sold their goods to only those who could afford it. Bargaining and trading away their livelihoods as if their very existence depended on it.

In some cases, they did.

But, the walls also speak of mockery and descension.

The agonised cries of the poor who were unable to afford the goods at their disposal. The plights of thieves and beggars as they struggled to even breathe without fear. The pure, unadulterated, fear that one day they would be forced beneath the city.

To be discarded and forgotten by time.

Suffocated by the treacherous decisions of the leaders that lead them.

"Oi, Ice block," A sharp, yet teasing voice cut through the air; forcing his eyes to open in annoyance, "Finding magical artefacts would be much easier if you weren't taking a nap."

Gray scowled in annoyance and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth,

"And what's your excuse fire breath? _You_ haven't found anything either."

He dropped his hands from where they were placed on the ruins of his homeland. He folded his arms across his chest and scowled at his teammate and supposed 'best friend'.

How Erza thought it was a good idea to send them off on a quest _alone_ was beyond him.

Not to mention it _had_ to be back in Isvan of all places.

Sure, he had mostly made his peace with his childhood home, but it didn't mean that it didn't sting when he had to return here. He found himself pinching the bridge of his nose as he turned to face his companion.

He didn't know what he was expecting to see when he turned, but it wasn't this. Natsu was standing a few meters away from him; the cold snow brushing the soles of his shoes even though his feet should be covered. His arms are at his sides, his fists clenched so tightly that Gray was pretty sure that he could make out the veins in his hands from where he was standing.

Gray pursed his lips as his gaze travelled up tanned, muscular arms and along a scarf covered throat until he met Natsu's equally pensive face. If Natsu's tense posture wasn't enough, then the very idea of Natsu thinking was.

"What's with the face, hot head?" The raven-haired boy quipped, "If you're not careful, you're going to have an aneurysm."

Natsu looked at him for a moment; his golden eyes sweeping over him before coming to a seemingly quick decision. All at once his hands seemed to unclench and a teasing smile spread across his face.

"Why are you paying such close attention my face ice princess?"

The ice mage felt his scowl deepen on his face, and he rolled his eyes in annoyance. Here's to hoping that whatever Natsu was thinking doesn't come back to bite either of them on the ass.

"What is it that we're even looking for anyways?"

Gray resisted the urge to face-palm,

"Were you listening to _anything _that Erza said to us yesterday?!"

The pinkette practically pouted as he folded his own arms across his tanned chest and huffed loudly,

"It's not easy to listen when you're being told on a moving vehicle."

Gray sighed loudly and rolled his eyes,

"You really need to get that motion sickness under control man; it's going to get you into some serious trouble someday—who am I kidding, it already has."

"I resent that," Natsu pouted even harder, "At least I can manage to keep my clothes on."

The raven glanced down at his own bare chest and cursed,

"Well, at least there's no one around to see it."

In that moment it felt as though a heavy weight descended upon the two mages. Gray exhaled loudly before turning away from Natsu to start searching through the ruins of his once hometown. He could feel Natsu's gaze burning into his back, but he simply ignored it.

After all, he has gotten over it.

It's been over 12 years since he had been to Isvan, nearly 20 years since the attack itself.

There was absolutely no need for him to carry that weight around with him anymore.

He was fine.

"Gray."

"_What _Natsu?"

He turned his head towards the pinkette and narrowed his eyes at him; daring him to press something, that he knows better than to do. Gray prepared himself for Natsu's onslaught of nonsense and needless questioning when a magical presence brushed across the back of his mind. He immediately straightened and ignored Natsu in favour of the pulsing energy that was calling him towards the ruins of the castle.

Where he was standing just moments before.

He walked towards the broken gates and raised his hands once more; only this time coating his hand with his ice magic as he did so. He hesitated before he pressed his fingertips to the wrought iron bars; slightly orange with cold and decay. Who knew what was going to happen as soon as he placed his fingers on that gate?

Just as his icy fingertips were about to make contact with the metal, he felt heat press along his bare back and strong hands grasp around his wrist; knowing, it could only belong on one person. Gray was about to tell the hot head to back the hell off when he felt vibrations travelling down his spine. He was going to question if Natsu could feel it too when the sound suddenly reached his ears.

Natsu was _growling_.

"Oi fire breather, cut that out."

Instead of stopping, the growling only seemed to get louder. Instinctually, Gray could feel himself backing down and lowering his hand. But it wasn't long until a much more stubborn, and dare he say louder, part of him made itself known. The ice mage allowed his ice demon magic to flare onto the surface of his skin. The translucent, blue magic thrumming loudly and causing steam rise from Natsu's tight grip.

"Natsu. Cut. That. Out. Now."

Natsu himself let out a harsh curse and jumped back from Gray; shaking his hand free of the icicles that stubbornly clung to his tanned fingers despite the heat that he himself was exuding. The pinkette's eyes narrowed at Gray before narrowing at the gateway that the two were standing in front of. The raven-haired mage frowned to himself as the magical pull seemed to intensify for a brief moment and lessen to almost non-existent as the mark quickly seeped back into his skin.

However, he was immediately pulled out of his thoughts by Natsu's surprisingly serious voice.

"Droopy eyes, we cannot go in there."

The raven-haired man raised an eyebrow condescendingly,

"And why the hell not?"

The dragon slayer seemed to tense once more; his hackles raised as though he were about to go another round with Hades or even Mard Geer.

"Because, we can't okay."

Gray rolled his eyes,

"Since when do you play safe Natsu; I'm sure nothing is going to happen."

Natsu scoffed in disbelief,

"And when have _you_ been so thoughtless? There's something wrong with this ice princess, we need to leave it the hell alone."

The ice mage stared at the pink haired mage in confusion; this really did not sound like Natsu in the slightest. Out of everyone, Natsu was always the one to go in guns hot. He was the one to deliver the first punch, just as likely as he was the one to throw the last. To see him hesitating like this, over some sort of energy that may or may not be there, was ridiculous.

"Seriously lizard-brain," Gray huffed in annoyance, "It's most likely the artefact that we are looking for; let's just grab it so we can go home."

The pinkette clenched his fists,

"Listen to me, _Gray_, something isn't right. We need to go, someone else can deal with this."

The ice mage frowned at Natsu's insistence and faced the gates once more. Even as a child, he never saw what was behind the gates of Isvan Castle. His parents lived and worked along the Mile before Deliora came, but they weren't of a high enough status to get behind the golden gates as it were. He was always curious to see what lay behind the walls; to see if the rumours were true, but he never got the chance.

After all, he was only eight years old when Deliora attacked.

That didn't give him nearly enough time, or confidence, to try and break into the castle.

What he did know of the castle's inhabitants was what his father told him, but even then, memories of his father and mother were becoming foggy at best and blank slates at worst. He didn't realise just how much of them he had lost until he had been forced to face his father again in cold blood. Silver had almost become nothing more than a figment of his imagination, his mother's face completely lost to the wind and only remnants of her voice had remained.

He hadn't realised just how much he had forgotten them until he forced to face them one more time.

"Ice Princess, whatever you're thinking, stop it."

It was only then that he realised that the sun that had been shining on their shoulders had started to become obscured by overhanging clouds and the light snow that was dancing around them had started to pick up. Gray found himself once again taking a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. He closed his eyes and tilted his face towards the sky; allowing the cool air to brush across his pale face. In moments, the snow's descent seemed to slow and even a few rays of sun were attempting to break through.

Gray shook the stray snowflakes from his hair before turning his gaze towards Natsu,

"Thanks for that."

The pink haired mage seemed to stare at him for a few moments before shrugging his shoulders uselessly; his gaze falling to the side. Gray liked to think that they were now in a place in their friendship that they could now thank each other and accept compliments, but in reality, that was far from the case. They were still too prideful for their own good, but they knew that they both cared and that was more than enough.

"I'm guessing you're not going to share what you were thinking about?"

It was Gray's turn to shrug uselessly.

They weren't huge fans of sharing feelings either, well, _intense feelings_ that weren't anger or annoyance at least.

But as always, Natsu seemed to understand his movement just fine. The pinkette released a stunted, but all too bright, laugh before turning on his heel; his hands placed on the back of his head in a posture of relaxation.

"Let's look in another area for that stupid artefact so we can get this boring mission over with." He sighed almost wistfully, "If only Erza could've sent us somewhere with more fighting involved; I've got a fire in my belly that needs to be let out."

Gray smirked and shook his head almost fondly,

"If you wanted a fight, you could've said so; I'm more than enough to challenge you."

The dragon slayer turned back to Gray, with his hands still behind his head, as a smile spread across his lips,

"You really think that you could handle this ice block?"

The raven-haired mage clenched his right fist and brought it to his left palm; his magic circulating almost playfully as it waited for Natsu's reciprocating energy,

"I think the actually question is: can you handle _me_?"

Natsu's golden eyes sharpened at the blatant challenge; fire immediately gathered in the pink haired mage's palms and banged his two fists together with an almost feral smile twisting his lips.

"I'm all fired up!"

There was no doubt in his mind that if Erza were here she would not have accepted any of this behaviour. She would yell at them, threaten them and then most likely join them long enough for her to beat both their asses and drag them on a train back home. Lucy would probably stand there with her hand pressed to her forehead commenting on how stupid they both were, Wendy would be fretting about who she should heal first, Carla would be telling her not to waste her time with the two of them and Happy would be cheering them on.

It was moments like these when he had pride in the fact that he was a part of the best team in Fairy Tail.

Gray ducked as Natsu swung one of his flaming fists towards him and jumped back using the balls of his feet. He angled himself away from the fire dragon slayer and moved his hands into the familiar formation for his Ice Make: Hammer. It didn't take long for his ice creation to form in the sky and prepare to drop down on Natsu only for the pink haired mage to take one of his fiery fists and punch it into smithereens.

It was fights like this one that reminded Gray just who Natsu was.

No matter how powerful he got.

No matter what crazy things he found out.

No matter who he was related to or who he was meant to become.

Natsu was Natsu, and nothing was going to change that.

Zeref be damned.

Gray smiled to himself as Natsu inhaled deeply; his belly swelling as his flames circulated and expanded, waiting ever so patiently to be set free. In response, the ice mage did his own hand formations preparing to erect a shield at a moment's notice. He wasn't disappointed when Natsu released a powerful Fire Dragon's Roar; the bellowing flames striking his just formed Ice Make: Shield.

The ice mage forced back a grunt as the force of the roar pushed him and his shield back ever so slightly; hairline cracks forming within the foundation. When the flames cleared and Gray's shield dispelled, Natsu's beaming face brightened the still ravaged remains of Isvan; for a moment making the ruined city feel whole once again.

"So you're still standing ice princess?" Natsu teased tauntingly.

Gray scoffed and rolled his eyes,

"You're kidding right? That was barely even a workout; you getting lazy on me?"

Natsu laughed brightly,

"You wish! Let's take it up a notch!"

As the words left the dragon slayer's mouth scales immediately lit across his tanned skin; a challenging spark once again igniting his eyes. The raven-haired mage laughed and shook his head before calling his ice demon slaying magic forth for the second time that day. The gift from his father standing in stark contrast to his skin as he felt the now familiar magic thrumming through his veins.

"Sounds good to me – let's…"

Then it hit.

A shrill, piercing, roar broke through the air and immediately forced both slayers to their knees. Their hands immediately going to their ears as the ringing seared through their minds like a burning blade. Gray's own mouth dropped open in a soundless scream; soundless only for the fact that he wouldn't have been able to hear his own voice over the sound that was assailing his brain.

"Ice princess," Somehow Natsu's voice seemed to be able to break through the sound's noiseless barrier, "What the hell is going on?"

Gray gritted his teeth and forced out a harsh breath,

"How the hell should I know?!"

He didn't even know why they were being affected by anything at all. There was nothing in Isvan, but ruins; they had checked. Gray's felt his teeth gnawing into his bottom lip as he tried to keep in his screams. His half-lidded gaze swept the area around them and again he felt the magical presence from earlier. Only this time, the presence was much more demanding; almost oppressive.

Gray swallowed back a whimper and tried to get himself to focus. Through his swimming vision he could see the gates of the dilapidated castle looming before him. He shuffled through the snow on his knees towards the gates and felt the sounds getting louder and louder in his ears.

It got so loud and disorienting, that the closer to the gates he got, the more his vision had started to swim. The ringing was even starting to move from his head down into his chest; making a counter rhythm to his own beating heart. Gray grimaced painfully and tried to swallow back the pain, as he had down many a time before, but if anything, it made it ten times worse. He hadn't even realised that he had made it back to the base of the gates where he had been standing no more than ten minutes before with Natsu growling against his back.

"Gray!" Natsu's voice shouted above the ringing in his mind; almost completely smothering it completely, "Stop it!"

The ice mage scowled,

"What do you think I'm _trying to do_?! If I'm doing such a bad job, then why don't you do it?!"

Gray sluggishly raised his hand, the mark on his arm glowing brightly as the black marks started to steadily crawl up his arm and across the side of his face. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was panicked by the fact that it activated on its own, but he couldn't dwell on that now. Even with the air being pressed from his lungs, Gray touched the cold iron of the gates; ice tendrils immediately latching onto his fingers.

Then he started to burn.

It wasn't like the burn he'd get in his muscles after he had worked out for a long time.

It wasn't anything like the burns he would get from spilling the water from his tea kettle on his skin.

It wasn't even like the burns he gets from when he fights Natsu; where he even gets a sense of satisfaction or even warmth.

No.

This burn was _cold. _And it was burning him from the inside out.

"Why don't you ever listen to me?!"

Gray rocked forward slightly as something ran into him; nearly knocking him onto his side. Despite, this the burning still continued, and his hand stayed attached the castle gates. Only now, he could feel a familiar warmth trying to seep into his joints; trying to unfreeze him and get him to move.

But it was all in vain.

"Goddamnit Gray, _answer me_!"

The loud roar seemed to rattle something in him causing his locked jaw to come unhinged,

"Natsu?"

A warm exhale brushed against his neck causing an all too different shudder to sweep through his body,

"Of course it's me ice for brains, who else would come to save your stupid ass; Lyon?"

The ice mage felt a need to fire back a retort or even laugh, but he couldn't find the energy to do so. His head fell forward and rested against the metal gate; he felt his air shortening as he did so. Clearly Natsu did as well as the dragon slayer somehow moved enough to wrap a warm hand around the back of his neck and force head up.

"Don't you dare go to sleep; you need to stay awake Gray."

All at once the raven felt whatever energy he had leave him. He felt his body completely slump even though his hand was still firmly attached to the gate; it didn't look like he was getting away anytime soon. But maybe Natsu…

"Not going to happen ice princess," He interrupted fiercely, "I am not going anywhere; we're going to fight whatever this is together, you hear me?"

Suddenly, a white light seemed to branch from where his fingers were attached to the gate and pain started to lance up his fingers and across his arm; eventually reaching his chest. The dark marks across his body seemed to glow brightly themselves, sending shockwaves of pain and anguish flooding his system.

Who the pain belonged to, he had absolutely no idea…

All he knew was that it _hurt_ and he wanted it to stop.

"Gray!"

For the second time that day he felt the intense heat drape over his back and an even warmer grip clasp over his wrist. But for the first time, in the amount of time that Natsu had entered his life, he let himself be swallowed and comforted by Natsu's heat.

He fell into the white light.

**I'm BAAAACCCCKKKKKK! (Cue scary music)**

**But not really scary because then I won't come back because I hate horror films LOL**

**Long time no see fellow Gratsu/NatRay readers, it's been a while and instead of bore you with my tale of how I died, I want to regale you with tales of how I returned. It all comes down to a group of lovely people I met, who encouraged me that while it felt like the end, it truly wasn't the end – that there were people still out there who read my fics and were waiting, ever so patiently, for my return.**

**I want to dedicate this new chapter, of my new story 'So Long', to mdelphin, Akiko Natsuko, Divinion and a couple other people who reminded me that even if Mashima did disappoint me, there characters still had potential stories that needed to be told. **

**Thank you for not giving up on me, and hopefully I will be able to return to my old stories (along with this new one) so that they can finally reach a sound resolution.**

**Here's to new beginnings xx**

**-sktrgrl13**


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